Safety razor



Nov. 21, 1944.

S. C. STAMPLEMAN ET AL SAFETY RAZOR Filed April 8, 1944 Zeman fd RWM ma@ m MW;v Wm m Patented Nov. 21, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR f samuelfcfstamplman, cohasset, and Nicholas Testi,y Boston, 4Mass.,

Safety Razor C' poration of Delaviare"k assigncrs to' Gillette ompany, Boston, Mass., a cor- Applieation April s, l1944, serial No. 530,160 Inl-Canada October 16, 1943 This invention relates 'to' safety razors of ythe type in which a thin exible blade is supported in a condition of ,transverse curvature lbetween cooperating blade-clamping members. In suchrazors, it is the practice to` adjust blade exposure by varying the pressure of engagement-of the blade-clamping members upon the blade; for eX- ample, by releasing the pressure and allowingthe exposure, to retain a'reliable connection between the head and the handle throughout on full range of adjustment and to eliminate or dampen chattering or vibration ofthe blade which is encountered in ,shaving with the blade loosely clamped. .All of lthese advantages are achieved in a compact construction in accordance with ourinvention, as Well as convenience of operation and capacity fora vernier type of adjustl ment;

-With these objects in view an important feature of our invention consists in a spring housed in a chamber of variable effective lengthy and acting at all times to urge the blade-clamping members into clamping engagement, in combination with*V means for positively and accurately varying the eiective length of the spring chamber, thereby adjusting the spring and regulating the pressure of the clamping members on an interposed blade with a high degree of precision. These and other features of the invention will begbest understood and appreciatedA from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, rin which: Fig. 1 is a view of the razor in longitudinal section yshowing a blade clamped in shaving position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly` in elevation and partly in longitudinal section, showing theV blade Vas slightly released forl increased blade exposure; f

`Fign is a similar view-showing the blade completely released;

' fz claims.r 4(C1. en -7.2).'

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View in elevation of a portion of the razor handle; and l I Fig. 5 is a plan view of a blade upon the guard. v v

The illustrated razor comprises a cap I0 rectangular in outline and provided `with a transversely concave blade-engaging face. Ihe cap is rigidly secured to the upper end of a stem or spindle II which is provided with a yIiattened section I2 adjacent to the cap and hasv its lower v end portion I3 reduced in diameter at an intermediate shoulder in the stem. The guard or' blade-supporting member I4 is similar in shape to the cap but somewhatv wider, being provided with marginalguard bars which extend downwardly and outwardly beyond the edge of the blade. The guard I4 is preferably formed integral with a head I5 which is bored to receive the stem II and provided externally with a shoulder. A cylindrical barrel i6, fitting over the lower end of thehead I5 and engaging with its shoulders, telescopically encloses the stem II.

In the lower end of the barrel I6 is provided an elongated cylindrical'nut Il having a bevelled circumferential shoulder I8 on which may be inscribed a scale, and a reduced elongated shank I9, the latter being internallyr threaded and provided with an external circumferential groove` in which is received an internal rib 20 formed in the barrel I6. The rib and groove form a positive rotary connection between the barrel I6 and the nut I'I permitting the nut to turn 'freely but holding it securely against longitudinal movement with respect to the barrel.

A hollow sleeve' 2I surrounds the reduced lower Vend portion I3 of the spindle within the barrel I6 and provides an elongated chamber for a compression spring 22 which surrounds the reduced portion I3 of the stem. Above and 'beyond the spring chamber the sleeve 2|l is provided with a straight slot 23 into which projects a short pin 24 from the portion I3 of the stem, thus providing la sliding non-rotating connection between the sleeve and the stem. At its lower end the stem is provided with a-nut 25 or abutment against which bears the spring. The distance between the inner face of the nut and the shoulder of the stem lII is greater than the spring chamber is increased and the compression of the spring thus reduced. When the sleeve 2| is moved down its upper or inner end forces down the upper end of the spring and so increases its compression.

The razor herein illustrated is designed to employ a thin flexible blade 30 recessed in each corner to provide elongated unsharpened end portions and having a longitudinal slot which opens out through one end of the blade. It will be understood, of course, that the invention may be embodied in other types of razor designed to handle other .types of Iblade., The blade herein shown is merely representative of one of many blades that may be employed with equal advantage although requiring appropriate variations in detail of razor construction. However, when an open-ended blade is used like that herein shown the guard may be provided with a longitudinal blade-locating rib 26 and 'an overhanging retaining flange 21. This permits the blade to be presented to the guard and removed therefrom by longitudinal movement, the blade being preliminarily retained in place by the retaining flange 21. The flange is received within the concavity of the cap without at all interfering with the clamping engagement of the blade by the latter. In Fig. 1 the nut l1 is represented as being rotated to the limit of its blade-clamping movement, that is toI say it has been rotated clockwise drawing the sleeve 2l downwardly into contact with the nut on the end of the stem, compressing the spring 22 to the limit and, by its positive engagement with the nut 25, depressing the stem and the cap until the cap is. brought into solid clamping engagement with the blade 30. The blade is thus positively clamped in condition of maximum transverse curvature and minimum edge exposure. In this condition it will be noted that the upper end of the sleeve has been removed appreciably below the shoulder in the stem.

Assuming now that the user wishes to increase the edge exposure of the blade: With this end in view he may retract the nut I1 any desired number of divisions. indicated by the scale of the bevelled portion I8 thereof. Fig. 2 shows the parts of the razor in the position they would occupy with the nut I1 retracted one full turn. Under these circumstances the sleeve 2| is positively moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position in which it just touches the shoulder of the stem ll. In this movement of the sleeve the effective length of the spring chamber is increased and the compression of the spring relaxed. The stem H'moves very slightly because the spring 22 is still under substantial compression and this tends to hold the nut 25 and the stem downwardly.y It is only as the compression of the spring 22 becomes weaker than the spring of the blade that the stem Il and the cap I0 are permitted to make any'separating movement with respect to the guard. When such separation occurs and the blade flattens, its edge exposure increases although yielding pressure is maintained because there is always some compression in the spring 22 and it is` this residual compression that prevents the head from swinging loose while the razor is in use and also dampens or eliminates` chattering of the blade.

When it is desired to remove the blade for replacement or cleaning, the nut l1 may be retracted to the limit of its movement, that is to say, until the nut 25 bottoms in the recess or the cylindrical nut I1 as suggested in Fig. 3. It

will be understood that the sleeve 2l is first moved on the stem I3 to increase the effective length of the spring chamber to a maximum and then, when the sleeve encounters the shoulder in the stem, the latter is positively lifted to some such position as is shown in Fig. 3. When the cap and guard are disposed in this separated relation the blade may be freely presented to or removed `from its [position upon the guard.

It is a characteristic of the construction above discussed that the cylindrical nut l1 is effective first to shift the sleeve 2| longitudinally upon the stem, and then, when the sleeve has engaged the shoulder of the stem, to shift the sleeve and the stem bodily in positively separating the cap and guard.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail one illustrative embodiment thereof, we claim as new and desire to secure Yby Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising a guard having a convex @blade-nearing race, a cap having a cooperating concave blade-nexing face, a stem carrying the cap, a handle connected to the guard, and connections between the stem and guard including a threaded sleeve movable on the stem, a spring enclosed within the sleeve and acting at all times on the stem to move the cap and guard together, and a threaded nut associated with the handle and having also threaded connection with the sleeve forl positively moving the sleeve on said stemto vary the adjustment of said spring.

2. A safety razor comprising cooperating blade-clamping members having telescopically arranged stem and barrel connected thereto respectively, a sleeve forming an open-ended chamber about the stem, a compression spring in said chamber, a nut on the stem closing the outer end of said sleeve and supplying an abutment for said spring, and means for longitudinally adjusting the sleeve on said stem.

3. A safety razor comprising cooperating blade-clamping members, one having a barrel and the other a stem concentrically arranged therein and provided with a shoulder and an end abutment, a sleeve shorter than the distance between said shoulder and abutment, a spring in the sleeve bearing against the abutment at one end andreacting at its other end against the stem, and means associated with the barrel for adjusting the position of the sleeve and thereby regulating the compression of the spring.

4. A safety razor including in its structure cooperating blade-clamping members'having telescopic handle sections, a sleeve movably mounted on one handle section and having an elongated spring chamber therein, a spring in said chamber connected at opposite ends to the bladeclamping members and tending at all times to hold them together, and means mounted on the other handle section for increasing the effective length of the spring chamber and so reducing the pressure of the blade-clamping members.

5. A safety razor including in its structure cooperating blade-clamping members, one having a solid shouldered stem with an end abutment and the other an enclosing barrel, an externally threaded sleeve movable upon the stem between its shoulder and said abutment and providing an elongated spring chamber, a spring therein, and a nut rotatable outside the barrel and held against longitudinal movement with respect thereto, said nut having a threaded connection with said sleeve.

6. A safety razor including in l its structure cooperating rigid blade-clamping members, one having a ystem with an intermediate shoulder and an end abutmentand the other a barrel enclosing the stem with clearance, a sleeve having a non-rotatable connection with the stem and being movable longitudinally thereon between said shoulder and end abutment, a compression spring housed Within said sleeve and acting through said end abutment to maintain said blade-clampingfmembers under pressure, and a graduated adjusting device rotatable outside said barreland held against longitudinal movement with respect thereto, said device having a threaded connection with said sleeve whereby the sleeve may be moved relatively to the stern or bodily with the stem.

7 A safety razorincluding in its organization a cap and a guard shaped to clamp a flexible blade between them, a hollow handle connected to one member, an elongated chamber enclosed within the handle, a spring held under compression in said .chamber and having connections with both the cap and guard tending always to move them together, and means for varying the `effective length of s'aid chamber while maintaining always the spring clamping pressure of the cap and guard. l

SAMUEL C. STAMPLEMAN. NICHOLAS TESTI. 

